Sugo alla Puttanesca – Neapolitan Sauce with Anchovies and Olives
The savory Neapolitan classic: anchovies, capers, black olives and garlic, ready in 25 minutes. The perfect sauce for spaghetti with character on the days when the refrigerator looks empty but the pantry is well stocked.
The anchovies are the point of the dish and they are not optional. Chopped fine, they dissolve into the oil and disappear — what stays behind is not a fishy taste but the savory depth the sauce is built on.
Go carefully with the salt: between the anchovies and the capers it arrives salted already.
Ingredients
- 6 anchovy fillets, finely chopped and boned
- 3 fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
- 250 ml tomato purée (1 cup)
- 2 tbsp whole capers, rinsed
- 1 cup black olives, pitted and sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, germ removed and chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt, pepper, chopped parsley and chili flakes, to taste
Method
- 1
In a skillet (frying pan) with the olive oil already hot, cook the chopped garlic until it starts to color and release its aroma.
- 2
Add the diced tomatoes, the chopped anchovies, the tomato purée, the capers and the black olives.
- 3
Season with pepper and a good pinch of chili flakes. Go carefully with the salt — the anchovies and the capers already bring plenty.
- 4
Lower the heat and let the sauce reduce for about 15 minutes, until the tomato is cooked through and the flavors have come together.
- 5
Finish with fresh chopped parsley before serving over the pasta.
Sauces
You eat with your eyes first, but it is the sauce that settles it: dry pasta never competes with a properly sauced plate. Here is a selection of the best homemade sauces, all easy to make, along with tips for keeping them.
